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Thailand pledges to end ivory trade

Updated
Mon 4 Mar 2013, 4:10 PM AEDT

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Thailand's Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, speaks to students before the opening of CITES in Bangkok, March 3 2013.

Thailand's prime minister promised on Sunday to end her nation's trade in ivory, delighting conservationists who have long urged the kingdom to tackle the rampant smuggling of tusks through its territory.

Speaking at the opening of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Bangkok, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she will amend Thai law "with the goal of putting an end to the ivory trade".

Thailand is currently the world's largest illegal ivory market behind China, according to conservation group WWF, with scores of unauthorised traders selling products made from tusks often to foreign tourists.

Defending her nation's commitment to protecting the species Ms Shinawatra said "elephants are very important for Thai culture", adding that "no one cares more about the elephant than the Thai people".

"Unfortunately, many have used Thailand as a transit country for the illegal international ivory trade," she added.

Ms Shinawatra said Thailand would establish tighter controls to curb illegal flows of ivory and ensure existing ivory supply is from domestic elephants before legislating for an outright end to the trade.

Timeline needed

Head of WWF's delegation to CITES, Carlos Drews, said his organisation was "thrilled" with the prime minister's pledge to end ivory trade in Thailand.

But he cautioned that Yingluck "needs to provide a timeline for this ban... because the slaughter of elephants continues".

Executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, said the African elephant population is declining by ten to 11 percent a year in many countries.

"We are really confronted with a crisis of the future viability of those populations... and ultimately the survival of the species."

Since coming into force in 1975, CITES has placed some 35,000 species of animal and plants under its protection, controlling and monitoring their international trade.

The 178 countries who have signed up to the convention - and must undertake measures to implement its decisions - will also consider growing calls for greater regulation of the shark fin trade.

CITES, which ends on March 14, is also looking to strengthen protection for multiple plant species, including Madagascar ebony and rosewood, from a host of countries.